Two Dozen and One Holiday Lies - Complete (NS Advent Calendar 2008)

[skauble]

21. Christmas is the time of year when we all long to have family close.


Lex looked at the small hand, clutched tightly in his own. It was amazing how delicate she seemed once she was quiet and still. A state that happened so rarely that it was no wonder those words were so infrequently used in connection with Chloe Sullivan.

Of course, he knew that the fragility he sensed at that moment was merely an illusion. After all, this was the woman who, according to his security team, rushed to Metropolis at speeds nearing one hundred miles per hour. Then snuck into a facility which she knew was the site of an active robbery. She heckled their kidnapper; eluded armed thugs to escape with him; and last, but never, ever least, pushed him from the path of an oncoming car, saving him from probable death.

If there was one thing Chloe Sullivan would never be, it was fragile.

And, amazingly, that didn’t seem to be limited to her remarkable spirit. Although she had yet to regain consciousness, her CT scan had come back completely normal, and the only injury her x-rays had shown was her dislocated, left shoulder.

He’d never believed in Christmas miracles, but if Chloe would just wake up, Lex swore that he’d set out milk and cookies for Santa every year.

Reaching over to gently brush some stray hair from her face he told her, “You are so incredible, Chloe Sullivan. No one has ever been there for me the way that you have; done the things you’ve done for me.”

A pained look crossed his face as he thought about the last few months and how he’d tried so hard to push her away. How he had ignored her and focused on Lana.

“I’m so sorry I’ve been such a fool. I’ve wasted so much time with things that were never important compared to you; to us.”

He bowed his head and rested it on their joined hands as he confessed to her, “I love you. I love you so much, and if anything happened to you, Chloe, I’m not at all sure what I’d do.”

“You better mean that, Lex Luthor,” came the raspy reply. “Because if that’s just some kind of misplaced guilt talking then I will hunt you down and hurt you.”

His head shot up at the sound of her voice, and Lex was momentarily stunned at the site of her bright green eyes. Regaining his wits, he processed what she’d said and promised her, “I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.”

Chloe sighed as her eyes slid shut once more.

“Oh, thank God; because I am insanely in love with you, too.”

And the last of the tension in Lex’s chest broke. It had been so long since he had really felt truly loved; felt like he was even capable of eliciting that emotion. But to have some like Chloe love him; someone so good, so strong, so utterly amazing, it was more than he’d ever dreamed of, and so much more than he felt he deserved.

Although he’d never tell her that. Chloe was, above all else, unbelievably loyal. She’d never let anyone disparage him. Not even himself.

Lex smiled at that thought. Being taken care of, protected…he could get used to that.

Unable to hold back for one more second, he leaned down and captured Chloe’s lips, desperate to feel her; to reaffirm that she was really whole and had truly come back to him.

Chloe closed her eyes as Lex’s lips moved over hers. She couldn’t believe how far they’d come in such a short time. She was so sure that he might be falling under Lana’s spell that to find out that it was her that he loved made her head spin.

She had a thousand and one questions to ask Lex about what had happened to Henderson and how they’d come through alright, but at that moment everything faded away except Lex and the way that he made her feel; both her body and her heart.

For as much as she genuinely believed in herself and her worth as a person, it seemed as if she was never anyone’s first choice. To know that Lex was choosing her; that he loved her with the deep intensity that she’d seen in her eyes, it was everything to her.

Her hand moved to the back of Lex’s head and she gently ran her fingertips over the taught skin, delighted to feel him shudder in response. She pulled him closer, wanting - needing to feel more of him.

Lex groaned as he felt Chloe pull him to her. He’d tired to hold back, not wanting to hurt her when she’d just woken up, but feeling her deepen the kiss, he couldn’t help but reciprocate with an ever growing fervor.

However, their moment of passion was destined to die an untimely death as a loud cough sounded from the doorway. Pulling apart, Lex saw Chloe glance over his shoulder at the intruder and let out an endearing little squeak. But all thoughts of her unquestionable cuteness were wiped away at the single word she uttered.

“Daddy?”

TBC

[skauble]

22. And in the joy of the season, all worries fade away.


Lex stood as Gabe entered the room.

“I’ll give you two some time,” he told Chloe as he bent to brush a soft kiss on her forehead.

“Coward,” she whispered.

Ignoring the tender jibe, he turned to leave.

“Gabe,” he nodded to the older man.

“Lex,” the man coolly returned the greeting before taking the newly vacated seat next to his daughter’s bed.

Chloe watched the exchange nervously. It was important to her that these two – the most important people in her world – got a long. Which, she knew, meant trying to explain things to her father in a way that highlighted the fact that she’d chosen to get herself into her current predicament, instead of minimizing that fact as she generally did.

“So, Dad; you’ll never believe what happened.”

Gabe rolled his eyes at his daughter’s continuous attempts to break her hair raising antics to him gently.

“We live in Smallville, Chloe, so I’m quite certain that I will.”

And so she began the lengthy tale; sharing her fear that Lionel might have been trying to regain his former power, and highlighting the lengths that Lex had gone to to protect her.

Finally, when it was all said and done, she waited, anxiously, for her father’s response. After a few minutes of silence she prodded, “Dad? I didn’t give you a stroke; did I?”

He smiled faintly.

“You said that you loved him. I know that’s not something that you say lightly, so I take it that you meant it?”

It was phrased as a question, but Gabe was certain he already knew the answer, and his daughter didn’t disappoint.

“I did.”

He nodded before continuing. “Lex doesn’t strike me as someone who says those words lightly, either. So I have to assume that he was serious, too.”

“He was,” Chloe finally felt secure enough to answer on Lex’s behalf. As silence stretched once more, she asked him, “Are you angry?”

“Oh, baby,” Gabe reached over and grasped his daughter’s hand. “I could never be angry at you for following your heart.”

With a heavy sigh he admitted, “Do I wish that it didn’t lead you into the lion’s den? Of course; but…”

“But what?” Chloe urged, gently.

Gabe took a deep breath. Blew it out. Looked his daughter square in the eyes.

“But Lex is a good man,” he told her. “I know that some people have problems with him because he’s a Luthor. But it’s like I’ve always told you, Chloe. There’s a difference between good fortune and good character.

“Clark Kent is a good, young man,” which Gabe believed despite the boy’s terrible taste in woman that led him to overlook the wonder that was his little girl. “But he’s been raised in a small, tight knit community, in a wonderful home, with two incredible parents who love him and have dedicated years to instilling good values in him. He’s been amazingly fortunate.”

Pausing, he looked over at the slightly open door and into the hallway where Lex stood, speaking with his father. Shaking his head, he turned back to Chloe and went on.

“You know more about the Luthors than just about anyone. Certainly more than I ever would have wanted you to know. So you know what Lex has endured, what he’s struggled to live through. And the fact that he’s risen above it all and become the man he is today – that’s good character.”

“So you don’t mind,” Chloe asked; head swimming with relief.

“Of course I mind,” he corrected her. “You’re my little girl. No man’s good enough for you and you shouldn’t have even been thinking about finding that out for another decade or so. However, if you’re happy…well, that’s all I’ve ever wanted for you.”

Squeezing her hand, he smiled slightly. “I mean, sure, you’re in the hospital. But this is probably the most minor of all your hospitalizations. Frankly, I’ve given up on safe for you,” he told her in a weary tone. “There’s only risk management where you’re concerned.”

This time it was Chloe who squeezed his hand in comfort. “I’m sorry. I know that I’ve been kind of difficult to raise.”

“Chloe Ann Sullivan,” both the title and the tone conveyed his seriousness. “You have always been and always will be the greatest joy in my life. The gray hair was more than a fair exchange for having such an amazing daughter.”

And to the best of her ability with one arm immobilized, Chloe threw herself into her father’s arms, so grateful for the man holding her; the father who had shouldered the role of two parents and had never faltered in his love for her.

“Thank you, Daddy.”

“Just be careful, baby,” he whispered against her hair as he hugged her as tight as he dared.

Pulling back, Chloe shot him a bright smile. “Aren’t I always?”

And despite his feeling that no one was good enough for his little girl, and regardless of his concerns about the trouble that was part and parcel of the Luthor name, he was almost glad that Chloe and Lex were truly committed to their relationship. Because, after all of the years of doing it on his own, Gabe Sullivan thought that it might be nice to finally have someone to share the considerable worry that loving Chloe brought.

And at least Lex’s hair wouldn’t turn gray.

TBC

[skauble]

23. "It is the one season of the year when we can lay aside all gnawing worry, indulge in sentiment without censure, assume the carefree faith of childhood, and just plain 'have fun.'" -- D.D. Monroe


Lex hated leaving Chloe’s side for so many reasons. The main one being, of course, how close he’d come to losing her. If he lived to be a hundred, he knew that he’d never forget the terror that had stabbed through his heart as he knelt on the asphalt, helpless as he watched over her battered body, waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

Secondary to that was the worry that Gabe Sullivan was in there, right at that very moment, trying to convince his daughter what a poor choice it was to love a Luthor. And Lex knew that he wouldn’t even be able to argue that point effectively. Hadn’t he told Chloe the same thing?

Of course, now that he knew that Chloe loved him as much as he did her, he wouldn’t give her up without a fight. Still, he knew it would upset Chloe to not have her father’s approval and a part of him wanted to be back in that room, convincing Gabe that he was sincere in his commitment to this relationship.

And, lastly, was the fact that out in the small grouping off chairs in the hallway sat his father. Knowing he couldn’t put it off forever, he headed over and took the seat across from him.

“They said her injuries were, thankfully, minor, all things considered,” Lionel remarked.

Lex knew he shouldn’t be surprised at either the fact that his father had managed to get information on Chloe’s condition or that he openly shared that fact, and yet he was. Sometimes he wondered if Lionel had any idea how the whole ‘redeeming oneself’ thing actually worked.

Silent for a few more minutes, he finally looked at Lionel. Met his gaze.

“Nothing else.”

Lex could see the confusion in his eyes, and he took a deep breath and began a conversation he never thought he’d have with his father.

“After everything that happened, everything you did, I swore that I’d never let you anywhere near my life again. And, honestly, I gave a fair amount of thought to finding a more permanent solution to the problem you pose to the safety of those I care about.”

He paused a moment, wondering at the fact that such a declaration was offered without shame and greeted without surprise.

“There is nothing else,” he continued, “that you could have done to ever make me question that decision…except this.”

And for a moment, something passed in their gaze. For Lex it was the strange understanding that he was somehow important to his father. And for Lionel, it was the realistic acknowledgment that Chloe was important to his son and that any second chance he received was only in conjunction with that fact.

“I don’t know how much faith I have in your ‘change of heart’. Certainly not enough to risk either Chloe or myself by simply ignoring everything that you’ve done. However,” Lex took a deep breath. Swallowed. Forced out the words. “She would have died. Chloe would have died on that road and there would have been nothing I could have done about it.

“You kept that from happening. For once in our miserable relationship you did something, for whatever reason, that has made my life infinitely better. It doesn’t fix things between us. In fact,” he confessed, “I’m not sure exactly what it does. But if there’s anything that can be salvaged out of this, it will only be because you saved her.”

Lex looked at his father, and for the first time that he could remember, the man looked hesitant; as if he wasn’t operating in accordance with some well scripted plan. And that observation both frightened and relieved Lex.

If there could actually be an end to the hostilities between them; if they could be, not allies, but not enemies, either, then a huge weight would be lifted from Lex’s shoulders. A weight he’d carried for far too long.

But as much as he longed for some kind of truce, a part of him wondered what they would be if they weren’t endlessly at odds with each other. He had wanted his father’s love for so long, wanted the man to actually try, but never believed it would happen that he had absolutely no idea what to do next.

It was an uncomfortable state for Lex, but it was made slightly better by the fact that Lionel seemed to be sinking in the same boat.

“Lex…” Lionel began but then trailed off. He seemed to search for the right words before starting again. “Son, I won’t try to convince you I’m a different person than the man that you’ve always known. You wouldn’t believe it and, frankly, I’m not sure that it would be true.”

It was the first thing that Lionel had said to him since his release from prison that Lex had given any credence to.

“But even if I haven’t changed, my priorities have. I want to be a part of your life…of the lives of the children you’ll have one day. It’s important to me, Lex. So, if the only way that I can accomplish that is to moderate my behavior then you can be assured that it’s done. Because we’re Luthors, son. When have we ever not gone after what we’ve wanted with everything in us?”

It actually made a strange kind of sense to Lex. His father had not just been imprisoned, he also had thought that he was going to die. Those two things, separately, we’re enough to change one’s perspective. But combined? Yes, he could see how that might have made even Lionel long for the connection that family brought; pushed him into thinking about the continuation of the Luthor line.

And Lionel was the kind of man who would do whatever it took to succeed. If he truly believed that he had to play nice to be let back in, even in a probationary manner, then he’d do so if it was the only way he could achieve his goal.

Which didn’t mean Lex trusted him. Didn’t mean that he wouldn’t be watching all the time in case Lionel’s ‘goals’ suddenly changed. But it did mean that there was a very miniscule amount of something that had previously been foreign to the Luthor family – hope.

TBC

[skauble]

24. Diamonds are a girl’s best friend


Lex looked over at Chloe, seated next to him, blowing on her coffee with soft little puffs of air that made him long to bend down and cover her lips with his own.

It had been four days since her release from the hospital with her arm in a sling but a clean bill of health in all other respects and Chloe was still conning him into grabbing her ‘celebratory’ cups of coffee.

After much discussion they’d decided to meet at The Talon. Although neither of them felt the need to let the general populace know of their new relationship, they did have a very public history together, so there was little harm in them being seen engaging in such innocent activities. Besides, they didn’t want their relationship, when it did come out, to be so shocking as to become a hot bed of gossip. Best to let everyone see them together as friends, make nothing of it, and then pretend, later, that they’d known about it all along.

As he watched her, Lex thought back to his talk with Gabe earlier that day. It had been awkward and painful…and gone far better than he had ever hoped it would.

Gabe had, surprisingly believed him when he spoke of how much he loved Chloe. He’d also been unexpectedly less concerned with the danger that came with his family than he’d feared. The older man had been satisfied with Lex’s vows to keep her safe and to vastly expand his security team.

The snag had come when the topic of Lex’s history with romance had been broached. Thankfully, that portion had been short and sweet – hurt his daughter and he’d kill him.

And Lex had been almost ridiculously happy at the acceptance that threat implied.

Chloe glanced sideways at Lex and wondered what thoughts prompted the slightly goofy smile trying to creep onto his face.

Of course, she knew if he was smiling then he probably didn’t know about the talk she’d had with Lionel earlier that day. And it had gone surprisingly well.

Lionel had tossed one assurance after another at Chloe – he’d changed, he wanted a second chance, he finally understood what was important in life. Frankly, Chloe couldn’t have cared less. If Lionel died miserable and alone then it was no more than he deserved, in her opinion, and he only had himself to blame.

Her only concern was Lex and so, thankfully, their conversation had been brief and to the point – hurt his son and she’d kill him.

Both Chloe and Lex were so lost in their own thoughts that they failed to notice Lana approaching the table followed closely by Clark, until the two were upon them.

“Chloe,” Lana greeted hesitantly, sending cautious glances in Lex’s direction before turning to greet him, too. “Lex.”

Clark’s greetings were a near mirror copy and Chloe would have laughed if there wasn’t a painfully awkward job to be done.

Having discussed it between the two of them, they had decided it would be best to tell their friends of the new status of their relationship. If they found out by accident there would be endless lectures and fruitless attempts to “save” Chloe.

However, if they knew, up front, and understood that this wasn’t a shameful secret and, in fact, that they had Gabe’s support, well, they wouldn’t be happy, but it would certainly help to minimize the inevitable interference.

“Lana,” Chloe stood and grabbed her friend’s hand. “I was hoping I could ask your opinion on something…in private.”

Nodding to Clark, they made their way to the back, where Chloe bypassed the bathroom in favor of a small, but infinitely more private, storage room. Flipping on the light and closing the door, she turned to Lana and gave her a conspiratorial smile.

“We’re together now. Lex and I,” she clarified, deciding it was best to be blunt.

A flurry of emotions crossed Lana’s face and Chloe watched as shock turned to disbelief, which became confusion before finally settling into concern. It was the concern that Chloe had been waiting to see before she spoke.

“I wanted to thank you.”

And she was back to confusion.

“Chloe, Lex-”

“It’s okay Lana,” she cut off the other girl. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you; to let you know that I understand and I appreciate what you did.”

“You do?” The reply was hesitant as she tried to follow Chloe’s train of thought.

“Of course. Lana, I know that you’re very serious about your relationship. I know that you went out on a limb, considering the way that the gossips work in this town, to help Lex when he reached out for a friend.”

Chloe turned slightly away; hid her expression.

“It was hard for Lex and I while we were apart, loving the other but not sure if we could be together. Lex needed a friend, and you didn’t turn your back on him. And that means a lot to me.”

And with that she turned and pulled Lana into a tight embrace and, strangely, felt no guilt at what she’d just done. It wasn’t that Chloe had necessarily wanted to manipulate her friend. But the fact was that Lana would misread the situation no matter what. So the choice was either to let her misread it as Lex being an evil fiend who was settling for poor Chloe because he couldn’t have his true choice, or have her misread it as her being a truly intuitive individual who understood that her friends were hurting and did everything she could to help.

Chloe felt much better about the latter scenario because Lana was actually a kind person. She generally did what she thought was best for everyone. Unfortunately, she had a sort of bent view of what that was. But the blame for that could hardly be laid solely at Lana’s door. There was an entire town of people who, for nearly two decades, had been telling her that everything she was doing, thinking, believing, was absolutely and utterly correct. Even if Chloe had wanted her to see things differently expecting her to do so was unrealistic.

The fact was that, within the scope of what Lana understood reality to be, she was a kind and caring person. And so, while Chloe often felt frustrated by a life view that almost bordered on delusional, she had no real desire to hurt her friend.

As if to prove that Chloe had been justified in her weird and twisted faith in her, Lana shot her a brilliant smile.

“You and Lex are my friends, Chloe. I’m just glad that I could be there for you.”

And Chloe could see that she honestly was and so, while she had just lied through her teeth, she felt it was more of the “there is a Santa Claus” kind of lie as opposed to the “could you take this ‘innocent’ package across the border and give it to my ‘brother” kind of lie.

“But you owe me a coffee date and a lot of details,” Lana informed her.

“Deal.”


Lex watched Chloe and Lana make their way to the back of The Talon, leaving him with Clark.

He and Chloe had agreed on how to best handle their friends, and while he had no problem with the minor rearranging of the truth, he did mind that it was eating into his time with Chloe.

But, he supposed, if he got it over quickly then he’d have Chloe to himself until he had to return her home at whatever Gabe Sullivan considered a reasonable hour. Lex wanted to argue that it was never reasonable to have her leave him, but he was still riding too high on the novelty of parental approval for him to do anything that might jeopardize it.

“So,” Clark said slowly as he took a seat, “you and Chloe?”

“Yes,” he nodded, thankful that Clark was on the right track. “Chloe and I are together.”

The younger man’s brow furrowed as his mind played out its concerns for both his best friend and the girl that he was still pining for.

“But, I thought…” He trailed off, doubtfully.

“You thought what?” Lex encouraged.

“I thought that you and Lana…” He trailed off again, but this time in embarrassment at the idea that he might have gotten everything so wrong.

“Clark,” Lex frowned and feigned a small amount of hurt. “I know that you and I haven’t been seeing eye to eye on everything, lately, but do you really think that I’d do that to you?”

Okay, Chloe might not have known he was going to go quite that far with the guilt, Lex thought. But he was tired of always being the one who was supposed to carry all the blame for the deterioration of their friendship. Yes, he had his secrets, but Clark Kent was truly the last person on Earth who should start chucking stones out of glass houses.

“No. I mean,” Clark stopped. Pulled his thoughts together and then shot Lex a small, lopsided smile. “Chloe, huh?”

And Lex couldn’t help but smile back. Didn’t even want to try to resist. Clark had been one of the first real friends he’d ever had, and if there was any way that they could come to a place where they could respect the fact that they were both bald faced liars, well, they couldn’t be the friends they’d once dreamt of, but they could be something.

He didn’t know if it could work, but for both his own sake, and Chloe’s, he was going to try. And so he invited Clark over for a game of pool the next day and changed the subject as he saw the women making their way back towards the table.



As they reached the door of the Sullivan’s apartment, Lex turned and pulled Chloe into his arms. The kiss was soft and sweet; full of love as opposed to the burning passion he was sure would be inappropriate to ignite with Chloe’s father sleeping just beyond the walls.

As they broke apart, he reached down and retrieved the keys from her hand to unlock the door for her. Pulling them back out from the lock, he frowned.

“You didn’t like it?”

He was so certain that she would.

“The kiss?” Chloe asked in genuine confusion. “Of course I did. You know I-” She was cut off by Lex’s laughter.

“No,” he assured her as he gently cupped her cheek. “Call me conceited but I had no doubts as to your satisfaction in that regard. I meant the present.”

Which left her even more confused until, “Oh! That was from you?”

Lex scowled down at her in the dim porch light. “Yes that was from me. Who did you think would give you such a thing? Clark?”

And now Chloe’s curiosity was afire. Lex seemed truly upset that she would attribute his gift to Clark, which left her dying to know just what was in that package resting, still wrapped, on her desk.

“I did think it was from Clark,” she told him, watching his frown deepened before she soothed, “which is why I didn’t open it.”

The frowned melted away as a small smile took its place; and though she’d never tell him for the world, he looked almost boyish in his excitement. But the excitement began to give way to a nervousness that seemed strange on a Luthor.

“Well, let’s go, slowpoke! I want to open my present,” she declared, grabbing his hand and pulling him with her up the small, narrow stairway to her bedroom. Once inside, she motioned for him to sit on the bed, grabbed the package and then sat beside him.

Ripping off the paper in childish delight, she uncovered a small, metal box. She glanced up at him before directing her attention to opening it. Gently, she lifted away the lid, and inside found…

A keychain.

She was fairly certain that Lex hadn’t bought her a car because one, there were no keys attached and two, he dad would kill him. So she was pretty sure this was the gift, itself.

At her questioning look, Lex took the keychain from her hands. Placing the small, rectangular piece of steel on his palm, he flicked the bottom of it open to reveal a small button.

“It’s a GPS beacon,” he told her. “When you push that button, wherever you are, I’ll know”

Lex hesitated a minute. Looked at the small device in his hand, then back up at the woman he loved. Told her, “Everyone gets lost sometimes. And it’s good to know that there’s always one person you can count on to find you.”

Like she’d found him. The words were unspoken, but she heard them clear as day. And as their lips met, she knew that despite the pain and the obstacles, the misunderstandings and miscommunications, what they’d found…was each other.

~ End ~ Epilogue to follow

[skauble]

25. You can’t go home again.


It was odd being back at the castle. It was always difficult to accurately judge the passage of time in a home that was centuries old.

Not that it had been that long since they’d been there. In fact, Lex was surprised to realize that it had only been a little more than three years ago since he and Chloe had left Smallville; her for Met U and him to be closer both to her and the base of operations for LuthorCorp. And while they’d been back for visits, they’d been brief and generally hadn’t encompassed too many detours down memory lane.

Lana still lived in town. Clark had too, going to the local college for two years before deciding to see a bit of the world. Surprisingly, Pete Ross had moved back and had proven quite the comfort for Lana in her hour of need. But, honestly, Gabe Sullivan was the only thing that had pulled Chloe or Lex willingly back to Smallville with any regularity.

Hence the reason that they were back in what Chloe affectionately termed their ‘leafy little hamlet’. They’d driven down earlier to open presents with Gabe, and then had snuck away while the man had gorged himself on a myriad of football games, with the promise to return for Christmas dinner.

Although he’d never thought it would happen, both he and Chloe had had Christmas Eve dinner in Metropolis, with Lionel, the night before. Despite innumerable underhanded business deals and questionable ethical choices, the man had kept true to his word of not hurting them and Chloe had adopted a mostly ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy unless his actions were truly egregious.

Without being at odds with his father, LuthorCorp was thriving and Chloe would soon be graduating and heading to a full time position at the Daily Planet. Life was so much better than he’d ever dreamed possible and it frightened him even as it made him deliriously happy.

There was just one thing.

“Chloe,” he began, hesitantly as they walked through the snow covered gardens. “What would you do if-”

“Oh my God!” She almost bounced with excitement. “We haven’t played that in so long. Which is sad, when you think about it, since I could totally equip myself with all sorts of top secret LuthorCorp gadgetry now.”

“And you think that I’d give allow you access to anything that would heighten the likelihood of you finding danger? Not likely,” he told her, shaking his head.

“Yeah,” she easily dismissed. “Like you’d be the Luthor I asked.”

Ignoring Lex’s scowl, Chloe began to speculate on possible scenarios for their game.

“What would I do if – there was a zombie outbreak that affected two thirds of Metropolis? If I was dropped into a pit of venomous snakes with nothing but a letter opener and a block of Velveeta Cheese? I came to Smallville to visit Lana to find it wasn’t really her, but that she’d been cloned?”

“Wait, what?” Lex asked, his mind sticking on one thing in the midst of her many, utterly ridiculous scenarios. “Why would anyone want to clone Lana?”

Chloe shrugged, “I don’t know. That’s what makes it a good ‘What if’.”

“Well it’s none of that,” he said, grumpily. “What I was going to say before you 007ed the conversation was,” he took a deep breath. Turned to face her; took her hand. “What would you do if I asked you to be my wife?”

And, with a nervousness he couldn’t quite hide, he pulled out the ring he’d brought with him for just that moment.

Gazing down at the ring, then up at him, then back again; her silence was only increasing his anxiety. But when she finally met his gaze, the love he saw behind the tears in her eyes told him everything, even before she said the words.

“Yes. Oh my God; yes!”

And as she threw herself into his arms, and he crushed her to him, Lex knew that wherever they were, be it mansion in Smallville, penthouse in Metropolis, or anywhere in between; as long as they were together, they were…home.

The End.

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